Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 110
 An Excellent Basic Portable External Hard Drive August 22, 2009
Lawrence H. Bulk (New Jersey USA)
101 out of 109 found this review helpful
I bought this Western Digital WD Elements 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAR3200ABK-NESN (Black) last week at, I regret to say, Target - not Amazon. Target had it "on sale" at $59.95, an irresistible price. This unit works perfectly with Linux (both Ubuntu Linux - which is my main computer's operating system - and the modified-Xandros Linux found on the ASUS Eee PC 1000 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 40 GB Solid State Drive, 20 GB Eee Storage, Linux, 6 Cell Battery) Pearl White which I own) and, naturally, Windows. (It is "pre-formatted" for Windows - it has some programs incorporated which I of course immediately deleted as I do not use Windows.) This unit will also work perfectly with the Apple Mac operating system (Windows and Mac compatibility are specified on the box.) As another reviewer has mentioned, it may be necessary to format the drive for use with a Mac.
Used with a Linux computer, no formatting or any other special operations are necessary. Just plug it in and you're instantly "on!" (Of course, this same comment about no formatting necessary also applies to Windows computers, though, the first time you use it, a Windows machine may take a few seconds to recognize the new drive.)
Packaged with the unit is a standard USB connection cord (supports v. 1.1 and 2.0 and, in addition to connecting to your computer for data transfer, it also powers the unit; no other external power supply is necessary) as well as the usual warranty, etc., information. In addition a CD containing the operating manual is included. I have not looked at this - really however, what is there to know about how to use this external drive? Just plug it into your computer! - that is, of course, if you use these drives as I use them: as storage units only. (I now own quite a few of these drives.)
I find that, especially with Ubuntu Linux, that it is very easy to copy everything in one's "Home" folder to one of these external drives and, should it become necessary to reinstall the operating system, it is quite easy to restore all of your documents, music, pictures, etc. from the external drive. It is also possible to store one's music, videos, audio books, etc. on one of these drives thus freeing up space from your computer's hard drive. (That's why I have several of these things!)
Naturally, the same uses I mention above are also available to Windows or Mac users. These portable external hard drives are very useful and this one, being a simple, basic, unit, is all one truly needs, in my opinion, if your reasons for buying one are the same as mine. I do suggest that, if you do not have an urgent need for one of these drives, or if you are buying an "extra" or "spare" unit, you wait until you see a really good "sale" price either on Amazon or elsewhere.
Like all Western Digital external hard drives that I own it is very well-made and, with reasonable care, should last a very long time. (My oldest Western Digital external drive - 40 GB, "huge" at the time I bought it - is over five years old, still in use, and still going strong.) In my own personal experience the company is reputable, responsive and VERY customer-oriented.
I highly recommend this unit.
Simple works December 1, 2009
shopaholic (Atlanta, GA)
26 out of 29 found this review helpful
This thing is the exact same width and length as the passport, but slightly thicker. It really is like a brick, and is not the slickest looking thing out there. But I LOVE the matte casing. My 500gb passport got so scratched up from the tiniest handling that I dread smooth shiny surfaces now. I don't know why this only has 1 yr warranty as oppose to the passport's 3 yrs. But hopefully it's of the same quality I've always been expecting from WD. The price was good, and amazon surprisingly delivered it super fast even with super savers s/h. Ordered on black friday and got it today on a Monday. Quite happy so far.
A great harddrive February 6, 2010
Todd A. Hooper
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I bought this around Christmas and it's been a great purchase. I simply unpacked it plugged it in and was backing up my files in no time. It's the easiest thing ever. I have had zero problems with it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a lot of space to back up their files with.
Great Product, Great Price January 29, 2010
Blah
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I have also purchased Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB on Amazon. And I am extremely satisfied with both.
There are only few differences between My Passport Essential & this WD Elements:
1) My Passport Essential has 3-year warranty and WD Elements has only 1-year warranty
2) My Passport Essential is 0.6 ounces lighter than WD Elements
3) Different external appearance
4) Different software included
Small and Reliable March 28, 2010
d.w. (New York, New York)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I purchased a Western Digital external MyBook a while back that was completely unreliable and frustrating. I am pleased to report that the WD Elements portable drives appear to be much better and do not have the constant write errors that the MyBook had.
I've been using this drive for several weeks now as a media drive for an LED LCD TV. It's been functioning very well for that purpose. When I opened the package, the drive itself was smaller than expected. The last portable drive I owned was a Toshiba, purchased perhaps 3 years ago, and the Elements drive is much smaller than that was. It requires no additional power source other than whatever device it's plugged into, which is a great feature for portability or, in my case, transportability from living room to computer. Both the computer and the TV recognized the drive quickly.
A note about the size of the drive: other reviewers have commented that the size of the drive is not as advertised. That's correct. I bought the 640GB size, the largest available, and yes, the actual functional space reads as about 596GB. This has been the case for every single hard drive I've ever purchased, external, internal, portable, or otherwise. A good bit of that size difference is in part due to the formatting of the drive. Some of the space is needed for reading/writing functionality and other internal needs, so that will reduce the functional storage space. I just wanted to point out that it's not really a fault of Western Digital, or any other manufacturer, and will be the same for any drive you purchase. On smaller drive sizes, it's far less noticeable, but on larger drives, it's a sizeable chunk. Expect about a 7-10% decrease in functional space from the actual, advertised size.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 110
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